In the meantime, the kingdom's crown prince, Linyuan, has been staying at the royal post house for a month. Linyuan tells the king that the emperor of the neighboring kingdom, yue, has occupied two towns and taunted the kingdom, saying that there are too few men in the kingdom for women to hold sway. The new emperor has named the sick emperor, linyuan, as his personal commander-in-chief, and has even named the emperor seriously ill to take on the new emperor in an epic battle. The king is worried about the fact that he has not received any visitors in years, and wonders if he would be able to withstand a new emperor's challenge.